Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - July/August 2014 - 41

photo-PFBC archives

Service (USFWS) fish biologist who is leading the water
sampling for e-DNA in western Pennsylvania.
"In places like the Illinois River, where Bighead Carp and
Silver Carp are doing well, they make up a huge percentage of
the biomass," said Stewart.
Bighead Carp and Silver Carp are voracious planktivores and
can wipe out a river's food base. Grass Carp prefer submerged
vegetation, while Black Carp feed on mollusks, which presents a
different but equally devastating prospect. The Allegheny River
harbors some of the rarest species of mussels in the United States.
Grass Carp have long been considered the least threatening
of Asian carp, because those sold for commercial ponds are
required to be sterile. In recent years, however, sexually viable
Grass Carp have been found in the Sandusky River, a tributary
of Lake Erie, causing scientists to become more concerned.
Grass Carp have also been found in the Pennsylvania portion of
Lake Erie.
"So far, the Ohio River's advancing Silver Carp population
has been documented about 400 river miles from western
Pennsylvania, while an individual Bighead Carp was found to
come as close as 42 miles. Neither is very far, considering how
much water the species are known to cover," said Stewart.
"They're big movers. In their native China and Siberia, they
travel long distances. They move upstream to spawn. Then, their
eggs float downstream to develop. We're not sure whether they
are doing that here, but it is a possibility," said Stewart.
Scientists have tracked Asian carp with radio telemetry on
the Illinois River and have expanded the use of that technology
on the Ohio River last year.
"On the Illinois River, we found they marched upstream so
far and hit a point where they stopped, perhaps because the
habitat wasn't right for them. We just don't know why, but we
want to learn more," said Stewart.
More traditional tools can help, too, if carp begin to establish
themselves. "Gill nets are good for catching Bighead Carp, and
boat electrofishing for Silver Carp, but in a pool 50 miles long,
where carp may have just arrived, the likelihood of finding one
is zero," said Stewart.
"Once they appear in large numbers, fisheries managers
face a major challenge in trying to get rid of them,"
said Ventorini.
PFBC website: www.fishandboat.com

Brian Ensign,
Area 2 Fisheries
Biologist, with
a Grass Carp.
Grass Carp
have been
found in the
Pennsylvania
portion of
Lake Erie.

In Kentucky, the state is contracting with local commercial
fishermen to catch and destroy Silver Carp and Bighead Carp,
but they have not been eradicated. On the Great Lakes, where
Asian carp pose an even greater threat, the United States
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has constructed electric
dispersal barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
to fend off Asian carp in the Illinois River from entering
Lake Michigan. The USACE has recently proposed other
alternatives for blocking invading carp from entering Lake
Michigan. One option has a price tag of $18.4 billion, which
proposes to completely separate the hydrologic connection
between the Mississippi River basin from the Great Lakes.
"All states in the Ohio Rivers Fisheries Management
Team, including Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West
Virginia, Indiana and Illinois, are making Asian carp their
main focus and sharing information with each other,"
said Ventorini.
"Kentucky scientists found that carp were entering
tributaries, because their higher plankton density provides
good forage, and to possibly spawn. So, the USFWS team
will sample spots where they got hits last year. They'll focus
on slower water during lower flows where eDNA is likely to
accumulate," said Ventorini.
Water samples will be iced and filtered to extract solid
debris in the mobile lab, then dry-iced and express-shipped
to a federal lab in Wisconsin.
Both Ventorini and Stewart urge river anglers to alert PFBC
if they happen to snag or spot an Asian carp. For images of
Asian carp and more information, visit www.fishandboat.com
and www.fws.gov/midwest/fisheries/asian-carp.html.

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * July/August 2014

41
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - July/August 2014

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